The word ‘Mini’ does paint an image of a car which has a sharp looking tiny hatchback in the mind of every car fanatic.
As far as the name ‘Mini’ is concerned, the Mini Clubman is definitely an ironical car, all thanks to its arduous size. Though the name of the car was coined back sometime in 1969, the Clubman was originally meant to be the renovated version of the Mark I Mini and not just an estate. But the name kind of stuck to it when the Clubman estate was rolled out a year later. And now in 2016, the Clubman has marked its debut in India for the very first time.
The vehicles that are offered by Mini are known for its fine tastes. The Mini offers 5 models of cars namely the Mini Countryman, the Mini Convertible, the Mini 5 Door, the Mini 3 Door, and the Mini Cooper Clubman, which are all personifications of style and finesse. The Mini Clubman is the second car to be launched this year by Mini after it had launched the Mini Convertible sometime back in March. The Mini Clubman arrives with a plenty of interesting features which stacks it up against the other automobiles in the crowd.
The top five unique facets of the Mini Clubman which makes it essentially exclusive have been listed down.
- Split Tailgate
The Mini Clubman has those paradigmatic ‘Barn Doors’ tailgate that splits up in the middle. Apart from making the car look exceptionally cool, the split tailgate essentially makes it easier for the users to access it. The tailgate of the Mini Clubman can be controlled manually as well as electronically also, i.e. it can be opened and closed by using a remote, via a button that is present on the dashboard. Being a master at easing the accessibility to its supreme features, the tailgate is capable of opening up automatically by just a wave of the user’s foot under the rear bumper. Doing this will open the right door first and the left side door will open up upon repeating the action.
- Biggest Mini
The Mini Clubman is far and away the biggest Mini that has ever existed. It measures almost 4,253 mm length-wise, 1,800 mm in width and its height is almost 1,441 mm with a wheelbase of 2,670 mm. To put these figures into the panorama, the Mini Clubman is a whopping 270 mm longer and 90 mm wider than the new Mini 5-Door with 100 mm extra wheelbase. Coming to the luggage space, the Mini Clubman has a boot that is adequately sized with a capacity of 360 liters, which increases to 1250 liters when the rear seats are folded. Apart from this, the boot floor can also be folded away so that there is more room to stuff in taller luggage, like a golf set, without having to compromise on the seating capacity.
- The First of Many
The Mini Clubman comes incorporated with a sea of interesting features, which are the first to its entire range. These new features include narrow ‘Air Curtains’ on the outside, openings that have been arranged vertically on the outer section of the lower inlet for air, which channels the air around the arches of the wheel in order to reduce the turbulence. Now, for the first time, the Mini Clubman comes with two new color options namely the Pure Burgundy and Melting Silver. As for the interiors, the Mini Clubman is furnished with a new storage compartment and two new cup holders that have been lodged in front of the gear lever. The driver’s seat can be electrically adjusted and the drive comes with an 8-speed Steptronic transmission.
- Wide Range of Options for Customization
The new Mini Clubman Mini offers the customers many options when it comes to the paint matters. The customers can select from an array of 8 metallic colors and 4 non-metallic paint finishes for customizing this amazing car. In addition to this, there is also an option where the exterior mirror caps and the roof can be given a finish in contrasting colors like black, white, and silver, at no extra cost. Furthermore, the options for customization also include black or white bonnet stripes and a chrome line for the exteriors.
Coming to the interiors, the proud owner the Mini Clubman will be allowed to customize the colors of the upholstery, the interior surfaces along with an optional chrome line. As a substitute to the standard style of fabric, the seat surfaces can now be wrapped in combinations of fabric and leather along with leather finishes with different suture patterns. The sports seats come as a standard for the MINI Cooper S Clubman. These sports seats are available even for the other models in the Mini range but as optional extras. On the flip side, there are sports seats that are available from John Cooper Works, if the customer is willing to pay a huge price for it.
- No Candid Challenger
It looks the Mini has carved a niche by creating a mini segment for itself since the Clubman does not seem to have a direct competitor yet. The car is a too low to be considered as an SUV, a little long to be a hatchback, and a wee bit smaller to be called as a full blown estate. In fact, it is really difficult to place the Clubman in any segment of the automobiles. Apart from the aforestated split tailgate, it is these unconventional dimensions and bohemianism of the Clubman that makes it stand out in the crowd and puts together a truly unique mini car.
Though the largest Mini has arrived in the markets with all these exclusive aspects, it is a wait and see game whether the Mini Clubman does manage to leave enough impact on the people so that can become a serious contender in the automobile market.
